ABFT introduces five tasks aimed at reducing family distress and improving family functioning, including:

As a first step, teens and their parents start by working together to improve their relationships; followed by

Teens meet one-on-one with their therapists to build an alliance and identify core family struggles and ways to address those struggles;

Parents meet one-on-one with the therapist to restore family harmony by accessing love and empathy, and learning new parenting skills;

Next, the teens and their parents regroup and meet together to identify and discuss problems and practice their new communication and problem solving skills together.

As a final step, the family engages in tasks aimed at increasing the adolescent’s ability to function more effectively.

After developing and pilot testing the treatment, Dr. Diamond received a larger grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a more definitive evaluation. Sixty-six families participated and were randomly assigned to ABFT or Enhanced Usual Care (EUC).

People who received ABFT were more likely to stay in treatment (65%) than those who received EUC (6%). Assessments done 24 weeks after the baseline assessment revealed that suicidal ideation declined more among teens who received ABFT than EUC. Eleven percent of teens in the ABFT group made subsequent attempts compared with 22% of teens who received EUC. Both groups showed decreased depression over the course of treatment, though ABFT showed a somewhat quicker decline.

Key Takeaways

Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT) shows promise for suicidal teens and their families.

An adaptation of ABFT for LGB teens also shows promise as an effective family intervention) .

In many instances family balance can be accomplished with treatments such as ABFT and sustained efforts by family members and trained family therapists.

Guy S. Diamond, Ph.D. is the Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Associate Professor at Drexel University in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. At Drexel, he is the Director of the Center for Family Intervention Science (CFIS) and the Director of the Ph.D. program in Couple and Family Therapy. In 1997 Dr. Diamond received a Pilot Grant from AFSP to develop a adapt ABFT for suicidal teens and their family as previously its focus was families with a depressed teenage. In 2008, he received a Distinguished Investigator Grant to conduct a pilot evaluation study of ABFT. Click here to read more about Dr. Diamond's most recent grant.